Departmental news

In a new study, led by James Shelford (Royle lab) and Selena Burgess (Bayliss lab, Leeds), we report a structural model for the interaction between ch-TOG and TACC3. These two proteins have a conserved interaction and are linked to cancer due to their overexpression in a range of solid tumours. Using this knowledge, we uncovered Affimers that can inhibit the interaction. Expressing the Affimers in cells led to the fragmentation of the pericentriolar material (see image), uncovering a new role for these proteins during mitosis.
The work was funded by a Cancer Research UK Programme Award to Royle and Bayliss labs, and was a collaboration involving the labs of Pfuhl (KCL), Tomlinson (Leeds) and Calabrese (Leeds).
Read the paper here.Link opens in a new window

This work was conducted by Sedigheh (Mobi) Ghanbarzadeh and Darius Koester in close collaboration with collaboration with theorists Sami Al-Izzi and Richard Morris from the School of Physics, UNSW Sydney (both alumni of Warwick) and discusses how different levels of ATP (our loved fuel for molecular motors and other cellular processes) can lead to different dynamics and patterns of force generation by membrane tethered actomyosin networks. Inspired by experimental observations, we developed a new way of using a hydrodynamics approach to describe a hierarchical system of membrane tethered actin networks with a layer of force generating myosin motors atop that interact with each other while taking into account how myosin motor activity and affinity to actin depends on ATP concentrations. Read the paper here.Link opens in a new window

TRAC-VT (isrctn.com identifier: ISRCTN84509594) was a prospective, multicentre, observational single-arm study enrolling patients at five hospitals in five European countries. The study evaluated the safety and efficacy of the DiamondTemp RF ablation system modulating power (based on real-time tissue temperature) in patients with sustained monomorphic VT and ICM/NICM. Headline results: Acute procedural success was 100% (95% CI, 91–100%). No primary safety endpoints were observed. Six-month follow-up was completed in 92% of patients with 81% (95% CI, 65–91%) freedom from sustained or treated VT.

Read the paper here.Link opens in a new window

To improve access to advanced optical microscopy in educational and resource-limited settings, researchers in Warwick’s Centre for Mechanochemical Cell BiologyLink opens in a new window have developed the eduWOSM (educational Warwick Open Source Microscope), an open hardware platform for transmitted-light and epifluorescence imaging in up to 4 colours, including single molecule imaging. Read the paper hereLink opens in a new window.

YouTube channelLink opens in a new window - Video explaining what the eduWOSM is, what it can do, and how to use it.

A groundbreaking study sheds light on the collaboration between dynein and KIF1C, two essential motor proteins responsible for transporting cellular cargo in opposite directions. Dynein, which moves towards the cell body, is linked to conditions like Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2 and Spinal Muscular Atrophy, while KIF1C, which carries cargo towards the cell periphery, is associated with hereditary spastic paraplegia and spastic ataxia.

World-leading research from Warwick Medical School (WMS) has been recognised in this year’s New Year Honours List.

Professor Gavin Perkins, Dean of Medicine at Warwick Medical School since August 2023, has been awarded an MBE for services to Resuscitation Science. There is also an MBE for Professor of Obstetrics Siobhan Quenby for services to obstetrics research.

A leading UK study aiming to improve outcomes for patients with potentially life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) has successfully completed recruitment at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust.

An image representing the work of Dr Nicole Robb et al made the cover of Biophysical Reports!
Read the paper here.Link opens in a new window

Satyajit Mayor, Mohan Balasubramanian and Masanori Mishima along with a group in the USA (Abhishek Kumar at Marine Biological laboratories- MBL- WoodsHole) have been awarded a Wellcome Trust Bioimaging Award.

In Phase 1 of this project, feasibility, proof-of-principle, and ease of use of the prototype light-sheet system with three detection modalities using existing and new fluorescent proteins will be established. In Phase 2, we explore a breadth of biological questions through investigation of model membranes, cultured cells (yeast, mammalian), and animal models (nematode, fly, fish). Our ultimate goal is to develop transformative imaging technology including optics and probes for widespread use by quantitative cell biologists everywhere.

This paper presents an update on the content, accessibility and analytical tools of the EnteroBase platform for web-based pathogen genome analysis. EnteroBase provides manually curated databases of genome sequence data and associated metadata from currently >1.1 million bacterial isolates, more recently including Streptococcus spp. and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, in addition to Salmonella, Escherichia/Shigella, Clostridioides,Vibrio,Helicobacter,Yersinia and Moraxella.